Shelf Notes

In the November episode of Our Librarian Life, we dipped into the mailbag to discuss, among other topics, book care and repair and housing the books. We also mentioned the Packhorse Librarians who are doing yeoman's work in providing good books to those impacted by Hurricane Helene. (More about The Packhorse Librarians is coming up in our December podcast.) And finally, we talked about some of what we've been reading and what's been going on in the various libraries. Listen now on your favorite podcast platform. Submit your private lending library question to our Mail Pouch here.

Alison Dykes of Lionheart Living Library is using Picture Book Preschool to serve her patrons with PBP totes full of picture book goodness. Alison writes, "Picture Book Preschool is a gentle and convenient lap-time unit study for the very earliest grades, made up of exceptional picture books. There are 52 totes, each with 10 carefully curated titles."

We still have a special giveaway for librarians and readers of this newsletter--an exclusive set of Picture Book Preschool stickers! These 1.5" circle stickers are perfect for marking the backs of all your PBP books, helping you find them easily when it’s time to read. Whether you're a school librarian, home librarian, homeschool librarian, or lending librarian, you'll love using these! Each unit includes ten identical stickers.

How to Get Your Librarian Book Labels:

1. Share a picture or video of your Picture Book Preschool experience on social media.

2. Set your post to public, tag Plumfield Moms, and send us a quick email letting us know you’ve shared.

3. We'll email you a link to download the PDF of the stickers!

We can't wait to see what you’re doing with Picture Book Preschool—thank you for helping us spread the love of stories!

Happy reading,

THe Picture Book Preschool Team

In August and September, Sara Masarik gave three talks on the importance of good and great living books. She was invited by a local classical school to aid in the faculty and staff inservice in August, and then came back to give a parent version of the talk in September. There was significant interest in the talk from lending librarians and others, and so Sara gave the talk a third time in her library. By popular request, the talk was recorded and is now available for purchase! Divided into two videos, the first part is the talk itself with the slides Sara used. The second part is the Q&A from her library event. Purchase of the talk includes both videos as well as a PDF of the handout she used. 100% of the proceeds will go to support The Card Catalog and all of the work that we are doing to support living books lending librarians.

A special thank you to Biblioguides for hosting the videos and handling the payment part of this. A very special thank you to Michelle Howard for her encouragement, support, and the use of the short form video that we made with her earlier this year.

Have you discovered any exciting new (or newly republished) books from 2024 that you think fellow librarians will love? We are curating a 2024 list of must-read titles and would love to hear your recommendations! The list of favorites from 2024 will be published in our February edition of Shelf Notes. Share your submissions of titles published or reprinted in 2024 for consideration here.

We’re growing! The Card Catalog now has its very own home at TheCardCatalogLibrarians.com. This dedicated site is packed with everything you love, including a brand-new Resources Page! Here, you’ll find links to our most-requested tools: curated book lists, helpful videos, favorite tools, and much more—all in one convenient place.

And that’s not all! Plumfield and Paideia is also moving to its new site: PlumfieldMoms.com. Both sites will continue to provide the rich content, thoughtful reviews, and inspiring ideas you’ve come to expect from us.

Check out our new resources today and see how we’re making it easier than ever to find what you need to enrich your library or homeschool!

Visit us at:

📚 TheCardCatalogLibrarians.com

🌸 PlumfieldMoms.com

In our Book Review Roundup, a joint project from Sherry Early at Semicolon and Diane Pendergraft and Sara Masarik of Plumfield Moms, you can find book reviews for all kinds of books from picture books to middle grade fiction to adult novels and nonfiction to help guide your book buying choices as you put together your own unique lending library.

Books with review links in Book Review Roundup, Issue 13 are:

🎨 Art & Creativity

• Rembrandt Is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey

• Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart by Russ Ramsey

• The Art of Miss Chew by Patricia Polacco

• Palace of Books by Patricia Polacco

📖 Fiction for Middle Grade & YA

• The Lost Key (Green Ember Lost Tales 1) by S. D. Smith

• The Misadventured Summer of Tumbleweed Thompson by Glenn McCarty

• Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt

• The White Stallion of Lipizza by Marguerite Henry

• The Restorationists series by Carolyn Leiloglou

📜 Historical Fiction

• My Vicksburg by Ann Rinaldi

• The Education of Mary: A Little Miss of Color: 1832 by Ann Rinaldi

• Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot” by Michael O. Tunnell

• Rosa by Starlight by Hilary McKay

👶 Children’s Picture Books

• Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho

• The White House Cat by Cylin Busby, illustrated by Neely Daggett

• The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane by C. M. Millen

🍽 Food & Reflection

• An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler

In the Small Publishers corner of the newsletter each month, we hope to draw your attention to something lovely from one of our beloved small publishers. We are so grateful for the good work these publishers do to revive otherwise lost good, true, and beautiful books!

Bethlehem Books has just released a new book, The O'Donnells, written by Peggy Sullivan and illustrated by Mary Stevens. See the Bethlehem Books website for more details.

Click here or on the pic to listen to an interview with Lydia Reynolds and Melissa Sobotta of Bethlehem Books about the origins and mission of Bethlehem Books which focuses on providing quality children's literature rooted in a culture that values faith and education. They explore the community aspect of their work, the influence of Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy, and the journey from a bakery to a publishing house, culminating in the release of their first book.

Hillside Education, reprinted Marathon Looks on the Sea by Olivia Coolidge in 2024. This incredibly accurate historical look at the Battle of Marathon follows the life story of Metiochos, son of Greek General Miltiades. Miltiades is made “tyrant” of the Chersonese and marries a Thracian Princess. Metiochos, son of Miltiades’s first wife, escapes his life in Athens to join his father and thus sets his fate in motion. He is eventually captured by the Persians during a naval battle and adopted into the Persian kingdom, a favorite of King Darius. He marries a Persian woman and rules peacefully over a part of the Persian empire. Until fate calls him into the conflict that will lead to the Battle at Marathon, his old home. In the end, which side will he choose? This story portrays all the political movements and people of the time period, adding depth and understanding to the ultimate famous Battle. Recommended for high school.

Smidgen Press, publisher of quality reprints with upgraded typesetting and disability accessible e-books, is offering 15% off through the end of December with code GOODBYE2024 (though items will not arrive by Christmas). All ebooks and our two audiobooks are 50% off. You can get beautiful reprint copies of classics such as Little Men by Louisa May Alcott and The L.M. Montgomery Christmas Collection from Smidgen Press.

Blue Sky Daisies publishes both reprinted editions of older classic books and new release in the living books tradition. One of their new releases for 2024 is The Life of Chesterton: The Man Who Carried a Swordstick and a Pen by Holly Geiger Lee, illustrated by Nelly Buchanan. "Meet Gilbert Keith Chesterton, the author of such celebrated books as The Man Who Was Thursday, The Innocence of Father Brown, and Orthodoxy. Chesterton stood strong for the truths of Christianity at a time when skeptics began turning away from faith in God. Undaunted by unbelievers, Chesterton insisted that the right way was the Christian way." You can purchase this 124 page biography of G.K. Chesterton at Amazon or Christian Book Distributors.

Over 25 years of homeschooling and nearly 50 years of collecting books, historical fiction emerged as Sandy Hall’s go-to choice for read-alouds and leisure reading. As her collection grew, she organized these books chronologically, making it easy to find engaging stories for any historical period they studied. Whether you run a lending library or simply cherish historical fiction, this curated list of nearly 1800 titles can assist you in organizing your collection or finding a book for a specific era.

This 164-page PDF features an extensive list of historical fiction books ranging from 3000 BC to the present, suitable for all reading levels. The document is conveniently sorted three ways: by the date the story begins, by author, and by title, with a helpful Table of Contents to guide your search.

In January we announced that the Plumfield Moms are creating custom book club guides perfect for librarians (and others) to use in their libraries. Each PDF guide comes with 25-35 pages of resources, questions, background information, invitations and book marks, participant journals, and more. Think of it as a book club in a box. All you have to do is print and host!

Because you are a subscriber to Shelf Notes, you can download The Princess and the Goblin for free! Just email Plumfield and let them know you would like to have The Princess and the Goblin Book Club Guide (plumfieldandpaideia@gmail.com). If you would like to see more of the guides, go to the guide page, here. You can hear the story behind these new book club guides on the Plumfield Moms State of the Podcast episode, here.

“To the people of his hometown, Jesus was always a carpenter, the son of a carpenter, a man who worked with saws and planes. We have some of the same problems, except in reverse. We’ve always known Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. We can’t see him as an ordinary craftsman who made things with his hands and sold them to customers… Ben-Hur helps us imagine Jesus the man, the strangely ordinary carpenter who did and said such extraordinary things.” – Mike Aquilina, The World of Ben-Hur

Ideal for readers 13 and older, this book deals with some challenging topics and may be hard for younger readers who are sensitive. For teens, however, this story is likely to generate excellent book club discussions about important and timeless topics.

This guide has over 30 pages of everything you will need to host a memorable book club from invitations and reading journals to enrichment suggestions and no-fail book club conversation starters and questions in one digital download. You can purchase this guide, here. You can learn about our other guides, here.

Saint Bridget's Books, Denver, Colorado. Jessica McMaken, Librarian.

The Blue Door Library, Ringgold, GA. Alex Taylor, Librarian. The collection is growing, and The Blue Door Library will soon be open for lending. Blue Door Library aspires to be a private, home based lending library offering modern and living books for all ages.

Living Library of Lancaster County, Leola, PA. Rachel Klein, Librarian. Projected to open January, 2026.

Children's British Heritage Library, Surrey, England. Teresa Marles, Librarian. We're so excited to add what we hope will be the first of many lending libraries in the U.K. and across the world. Where next? Scootland? Ireland? South Africa? Delaware? Nevada?

There are now 102 private lending living books libraries across the English-speaking world listed in the Private Lending Library Directory at Biblioguides. If you know of other living books lending libraries that are not listed, please ask them to share their information so families can find the books that will speak to their minds and hearts at a library near them. And please share this list of libraries on social media whenever someone asks where they can find the "Good Books."

And since this newsletter is called Shelf Notes, we thought we'd share a Shelf Notes Photo from one of the private lending libraries in our directory each month. Click on the photograph to see whose library this Paul Galdone shelf belongs in. Can you guess without looking? Send us a picture of one of your shelves, and we'll feature your library in Shelf Notes!

Do you have a library story to share with Shelf Notes readers? We at The Card Catalog hope you are enjoying the resources we have provided there, and we also aspire to make our monthly newsletter, Shelf Notes, a valuable source for news and encouragement to the private lending library community. If your library story is not already published on our Librarian Notices page at The Card Catalog, we would love to talk to you about adding your story there. Please email us at thecardcataloglibarians@gmail.com to submit your library story to Librarian Notices.

Also, we really enjoy hearing about what’s going on in your library and sometimes publishing that information in brief in Shelf Notes. If you have news of events or new endeavors in your library, please share with us by email at thecardcataloglibrarians@gmail.com. Thank you for all you are doing to connect children and families with good, life-giving books. Keep on doing what you are doing, and we pray for God’s blessing on all our work.